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This exhibition closed May 1, 2006.
 GENOME:
The Secret of How Life Works explores the human genome—a person’s
entire set of genes. Think of your genes like a recipe and your genome like a recipe book that tells you who you are and what you might become. The exhibition reveals the mysteries of genes, narrates the last two centuries of discovery, and unravels the implications of gene therapy for the future of medical science and healthcare.
GENOME uses interactive displays, visually rich environments
and family-friendly activities that are specifically designed to
help the public understand the genome’s function and its role in
daily life. Interactives include:
- Giant Double Helix An eight-foot-tall, 25-foot-long display
of DNA’s double helix structure.
- Discovery Theater An opportunity to meet the minds that
were instrumental in the discoveries leading up to the sequencing
of the human genome.
- Hereditary Slot Machines A working slot machine that
demonstrates the odds that children will inherit genes for certain characteristics.
- The Cookie Factory A visualization of protein production in terms that children and adults alike can grasp,
with DNA, genes and proteins as the ingredients and recipes for “making” human beings.
 The exhibition will answer common questions and correct frequently
held misconceptions that surround the human genome, tackling topics
such as genetic predetermination, the nature of mutations and the very slight differences in genetic material that separate
one human being from another.
“Genome is an especially important exhibition
to have at the San Diego Natural History Museum,” says the Museum’s
Curator of Herpetology, Dr.
Bradford Hollingsworth, who is also acting as curator of the
exhibition for the Museum. “In our active research programs, we
sequence and analyze DNA ourselves, and we also collaborate with
other researchers to provide tissue samples for analysis from our
diverse collections. This
research is instrumental for the conservation of species. Genome is also appropriate for San Diego because our region is one of the
world's biodiversity hotspots.” For more information, visit the Museum and Genetics section of our exhibit
website.
The GENOME exhibition was made possible by Pfizer, Inc.
and was produced by Clear
Channel Exhibitions in collaboration with the National
Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a division of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Whitehead
Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research.
Local corporate support for GENOME includes Invitrogen Corporation, Gen-Probe, Nanogen Inc., Pfizer La Jolla Laboratories, the Society of Toxicology, TERRA Restaurant & Catering, and BIOCOM. For more information about the exhibition, visit genome.pfizer.com. |
